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Tag Archives: angewandte

For years, we as chemists have all been taught that elements can only exist in the -4 to +8 oxidation state. In 2010, we were excited to hear predictions that the +9 oxidation may exist in [IrO4]+ – a fact which was later confirmed in 2014.

Now, a group of chemists at the University of Minnesota have used Density Functional Theory (DFT) to predict that the +10 oxidation state is possible in the compound [PtO4]2+. The compound is kinetically stable, with a lifetime of almost a year.

This is an exciting prediction which could change platinum chemistry forever, if this or similar compounds may be accessed synthetically. [PtO4]2+ does have a similar electronic structure to [IrO4]+, and so it is hoped that it may be isolated in a similar fashion in the near future. New species which push the limits described to us in our textbooks are always intriguing, and hopefully we will see this compound being discovered soon.